Consequences of Changing Marine Lightscapes

Light is fundamental for all life. Marine organisms have evolved in adaptation to the natural light conditions in the oceans, in terms of the amount (intensity), the colours (spectral composition) and the natural cycles (periodicity) of light. Over the last century, however, marine lightscapes in the world’s oceans and coastal regions have changed in two fundamental ways. 

Firstly, some regions have experienced a long-term reduction in water clarity, referred to as Coastal Darkening, with large-scale drivers notably connected to effects of climate change and eutrophication. 

Secondly, some coastal regions are experiencing a brightening of the night-time light environment due to Artificial Light at Night (ALAN)1 linked to urbanisation, on- and offshore infrastructures, fisheries, and shipping.

The drivers of change, their interactions and the responses are not fully understood, making it difficult to develop effective management strategies.

The funding of a research and development project granted in this call is set by the State Aid Rules.

State aid awarded by the Research Council in this call is granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation for state aid, Article 25: Aid for research and development projects.

Support from the Research Council constitutes state aid when it is awarded to an "undertaking", i.e., an actor that carries out an economic activity consisting of offering products or services on a given market. 

To ensure that support is awarded in compliance with the state aid rules, the Research Council will ask applicants selected for conditional allocation of funding to provide supplementary information. The Project (Principal) Investigator must be able to document that they're own institution and all its partners (all recipients of state aid) are eligible to receive state aid.

Link: https://www.jpi-oceans.eu/en/joint-call-launch-consequences-changing-marine-lightscapes